Tom Hoge set a new course record without realising it and Aaron Rai celebrated a hole-in-one at the 17th, but it is Scottie Scheffler who heads into the final round of The Players Championship with a two-shot lead.

An absorbing Saturday at Sawgrass saw Hoge card a 10-under 62, as both he and Rai put themselves into contention going into Sunday's closing 18 holes.

Scheffler's 65 took him to 14-under par and made him the only player with three sub-70 rounds, earning the world number two a two-shot lead over Australian Min Woo Lee. They had been tied at 13 under entering the closing moments of the day, but Lee had a bogey at the last and just minutes later Scheffler made birdie.

Lee had to settle for a six-under 66, which he had kick-started by holing a 112-yard shot from the fairway on the opening hole for an eagle two. Another Australian, Cam Davis, had a 67 to reach 10 under for outright third place.

Englishman Aaron Rai drew the biggest roars of the day with a hole-in-one at 17, becoming the second player to ace the famous island hole this week, after Hayden Buckley managed the feat on Thursday.

Birdies either side meant Rai finished the round in style and carded a seven-under 65 to reach nine-under overall for a tie of fourth spot with compatriot Tommy Fleetwood (65), American Chad Ramey (68) and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (69).

Hoge, whose lone PGA Tour title came at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last year, finished the day one shot further back. Incredibly, he did not know what the previous scoring record was, so it was a pleasant surprise to learn it stood at 63, achieved multiple times on the flagship course.

"I didn't even know it was a course record until after we got done in the scoring there," Hoge said. Former Open winner Shane Lowry suggested to Hoge he had broken the record after a birdie at the 18th hole, but Hoge still waited for confirmation.

Hoge only scraped into the final 36 holes on the cut mark of two over, after producing a gutsy 68 on Friday following an opening 78. He rocketed into contention on Saturday and said it felt good to be able to cancel his flight home to Dallas Fort Worth, having booked it in the anticipation his tournament would be over.

South Korean Im Sung-jae jumped from level par to eight under with a 64, and Jordan Spieth followed his eagle on the final hole of his second round on Friday with a 66 to go to six under for the tournament.

It was a day for low scoring and those that missed out got left behind, including second-round leader Adam Svensson, with the Canadian shooting a 75 to plummet down the leaderboard to join Spieth in a tie for 14th. Jerry Kelly, the 56-year-old who became the oldest player to make the cut in this tournament's history, went from two over to one under with a round of 69.

Tom Hoge set a new course record without realising it and Aaron Rai celebrated a hole-in-one at the 17th, but it is Scottie Scheffler who heads into the final round of The Players Championship with a two-shot lead.

An absorbing Saturday at Sawgrass saw Hoge card a 10-under 62, as both he and Rai put themselves into contention going into Sunday's closing 18 holes.

Scheffler's 65 took him to 14-under par and made him the only player with three sub-70 rounds, earning the world number two a two-shot lead over Australian Min Woo Lee. They had been tied at 13 under entering the closing moments of the day, but Lee had a bogey at the last and just minutes later Scheffler made birdie.

Lee had to settle for a six-under 66, which he had kick-started by holing a 112-yard shot from the fairway on the opening hole for an eagle two. Another Australian, Cam Davis, had a 67 to reach 10 under for outright third place.

Englishman Aaron Rai drew the biggest roars of the day with a hole-in-one at 17, becoming the second player to ace the famous island hole this week, after Hayden Buckley managed the feat on Thursday.

Birdies either side meant Rai finished the round in style and carded a seven-under 65 to reach nine-under overall for a tie of fourth spot with compatriot Tommy Fleetwood (65), American Chad Ramey (68) and South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (69).

Hoge, whose lone PGA Tour title came at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am last year, finished the day one shot further back. Incredibly, he did not know what the previous scoring record was, so it was a pleasant surprise to learn it stood at 63, achieved multiple times on the flagship course.

"I didn't even know it was a course record until after we got done in the scoring there," Hoge said. Former Open winner Shane Lowry suggested to Hoge he had broken the record after a birdie at the 18th hole, but Hoge still waited for confirmation.

Hoge only scraped into the final 36 holes on the cut mark of two over, after producing a gutsy 68 on Friday following an opening 78. He rocketed into contention on Saturday and said it felt good to be able to cancel his flight home to Dallas Fort Worth, having booked it in the anticipation his tournament would be over.

South Korean Im Sung-jae jumped from level par to eight under with a 64, and Jordan Spieth followed his eagle on the final hole of his second round on Friday with a 66 to go to six under for the tournament.

It was a day for low scoring and those that missed out got left behind, including second-round leader Adam Svensson, with the Canadian shooting a 75 to plummet down the leaderboard to join Spieth in a tie for 14th. Jerry Kelly, the 56-year-old who became the oldest player to make the cut in this tournament's history, went from two over to one under with a round of 69.

Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and J.J. Spaun share the lead after carding nine-under-par rounds of 64 on the first day of the season-opening Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Thursday.

Two-time major winner Morikawa reeled off a career-best six straight birdies from the 10th to 15th holes, before ending his round with a birdie on the par-five 18th.

Fellow American Spaun was an early leader with five birdies on his front nine, enjoying a run of four consecutive birdies from the 12th to the 15th too.

Former world number one Jon Rahm, who was among the last to finish the day's play, bounced back from a bogey on the 14th hole, birdieing three of his final four holes to grab a share of the lead.

The trio are one stroke ahead of South Korean Tom Kim, who managed two eagles in his eight-under-par round of 65. Kim holed out spectacularly off one bounce on the sixth hole from 116 feet, while he repeated the feat on the 15th after a fine approach which was one of the best shots of the day.

Six players are next at seven under, including world number two Scottie Scheffler who finished his round with four birdies on the final five holes.

Scheffler is tied with Tom Hoge, Aaron Wise, Sungjae Im, Matt Fitzpatrick and Mackenzie Hughes.

Six players are a further shot back including Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland and Hideki Matsuyama.

Tom Kim took advantage of a disastrous final hole from Patrick Cantlay to secure the Shriners Children's Open title on Sunday with an overall score of 24 under.

Kim, 20, became the first player since Tiger Woods to win two PGA Tour events before their 21st birthday, and he did it after coming into Sunday's final round tied for the lead with Cantlay.

The two players atop the leaderboard exchanged the lead multiple times, with Cantlay birdieing the opening hole, before Kim closed out his front-nine with back-to-back birdies to make the turn with a two-stroke advantage.

Cantlay evened things up with back-to-back birdies of his own on 11 and 12, before Kim banked another pair of birdies on 13 and 14, only for Cantlay to level the playing field with two more on 15 and 16.

Heading onto the 72nd and final hole of the week tied at 24 under, Cantlay teed off first and put it into the coarse bushes off the side of the fairway. 

Instead of declaring it unplayable and taking a drop, he opted to try and play his way out, resulting in a botched first shot that traveled less than a yard, before putting his next shot in the water in a catastrophic meltdown.

Kim made no such mistake off the tee, finding the centre of the fairway before approaching safely onto the green and two-putting for the win, while Cantlay needed to sink a 36-foot putt for triple-bogey, tying for second at 21 under.

Speaking after the win, Kim highlighted his mistake-free play as the key to victory.

"I played really solid this week – I had no bogeys for 72 holes," he said. "I think I have to give big credit to Joe [Skovron], my caddy, he really kept me in it and we had a really good game-plan the week, and it paid off.

"I got very lucky on the 18th, I'm not going to lie. Patrick played awesome, and it was an honour to battle with him, and to come out on top, I feel very fortunate."

When asked if he was surprised by his early success on the PGA Tour, he said he is just enjoying the ride.

"I've worked really hard, and my team has worked really hard to get to this point," he said. "I'm just really grateful, and I'm very fortunate to have an opportunity like this. I'm having fun playing on the PGA Tour, it's awesome."

Finishing tied with Cantlay for second place at 21 under was Matthew NeSmith, and first-round leader Tom Hoge ended the week with some momentum as he posted a seven-under Sunday to shoot his way into a tie for fourth at 20 under with Mito Pereira and Kim Seong-hyeon.

Im Sung-jae was alone in seventh at 19 under, and Jason Day tied with Kim Si-woo for eighth, giving South Korea four of the top-10.

After the first trip around TPC Summerlin on Thursday it is Tom Hoge alone atop the Shriners Children's Open leaderboard with an eight-under 63.

Hoge finished his bogey-free round with four birdies and two eagles, holing out from the fairway on the par-four seventh hole, before sinking a 33-foot eagle putt when he took on the water on the par-five 16th.

He leads by one stroke from the duo of Kim Si-woo and Maverick McNealy, who combined to shoot one bogey and 15 birdies to sit at seven under.

Kim is part of a strong South Korean contingent in the top-five, with Tom Kim, Kim Seong-hyeon and Im Sung-jae all part of an eight-way tie for fourth at six under.

Former world number one Jason Day headlines the next group at five under as he continues to climb back up the rankings, and Mito Pereira is at four under after bursting onto the scene last season by making the playoff at the PGA Championship.

Winner of the first event of the season and a strong performer at the Presidents Cup, Max Homa is also at four under, along with fellow United States team member Patrick Cantlay and International team representative Cam Davis.

Tony Finau produced a terrific Sunday performance to win the 3M Open with a final score of 17 under par – even if It was not quite a comfortable finish.

The American completed his final round with six birdies and two bogeys to post the equal second-best score of the day with a 67. One bogey came on the 18th after Finau teed off into the water, but he was never in any real danger after starting that hole with a four-stroke lead.

Finau's charge to the front of the field began during his back nine, when he rattled off four birdies over the course of six holes – including three in a row on 14, 15 and 16 – perfectly coinciding with the collapse of 54-hole leader Scott Piercy.

Speaking to CBS after stepping off the 18th green, Finau said it felt like he was a long way off the lead until it all started to shift.

"[It took] really everything I had," he said. "I was playing great, and every time I looked it up it seemed like I was four or five shots back, really all day.

"I really got things going down the back nine, and once I took control of the golf tournament it was a totally different mindset, trying to seal the deal.

"It's so special just to have my family here with me, and to celebrate this win with them… this one was for them."

Piercy began his day at 18 under with a four-stroke lead, and he was cruising early, making a couple of early birdies to jump out to 20 under, with his buffer extending to five. But everything began to fall apart on the eighth hole.

After back-to-back bogeys on eight and nine, Piercy also bogeyed 11, teased a bounce-back with a birdie on 12, and then capitulated with bogey, triple-bogey, bogey from his next three holes to go tumbling down the leaderboard. Over the course of eight holes, he dropped seven shots, completely eliminating himself from contention.

Piercy finished tied for fourth at 13 under after his 76, along with fellow Americans Tom Hoge and James Hahn, with Hahn's six-under 65 ending up two strokes better than any other final round.

That grouping was one stroke behind Argentina's Emiliano Grillo and South Korea Im Sung-jae, who were tied for second at 14 under.

Rounding out the top 10 were the English pairing of Danny Willett and Callum Tarren, tied for seventh at 10 under along with Greyson Sigg, with Chesson Hadley one shot back.

Recent PGA Tour winner J.T. Poston headlined the group at eight under, and Australia's Cam Davis was at seven under as he prepares to defend his Rocket Mortgage Classic crown this coming week.

Shane Lowry made the biggest noise at TPC Sawgrass, even though Anirban Lahiri leads The Players Championship after the close of play on Sunday.

The Irishman hit a hole-in-one on the notorious par-three island green 17th hole, using a pitching wedge and getting the ball past the pin, before rolling back and dropping in.

The 2019 Open Championship winner came into the third round at one-under par, and bogeyed the par-five 11th before birdieing the 14th and 16th in a chaotic back nine.

After holing from the tee on the 17th, Lowry celebrated wildly with playing partner and Ryder Cup teammate Ian Poulter, proceeding to throw his ball into the crowd.

It was a stark contrast to the norm on the 17th, made even more treacherous with a stiff headwind, with Brooks Keopka and Collin Morikawa among those to put shots into the water.

On another weather-interrupted day, Lahiri leads the pack, managing to finish 11 holes on nine-under par overall as darkness descended on Sawgrass. The world number 322 bogeyed the first hole of the back nine, but steadied to birdie the par-five 11th.

Stormy weather in the Florida region has wreaked havoc on scheduling and bad light eventually stopped play on Sunday. The third round will finish on Monday, with all players at least managing to finish nine holes.

Tom Hoge and Harold Varner III are currently one shot back from Lahiri on eight-under par. Hoge bounced back from a bogey on the sixth, birdieing on the par-five ninth hole to close out his Sunday.

Sebastian Munoz, Paul Casey and Sam Burns are tied at seven-under overall, with Francesco Molinary, Daniel Berger, Camero Smith and Doug Ghim one further stroke back. at six-under overall.

With the second round finishing early on Sunday, Rory McIlroy only just managed to make the cut at two-over par. Driving into the water on the 16th, pars on the final two holes saved him, as two balls into the water from Scott Piercy on the 17th and missed the cut.

Having also just made the cut after 36 holes, FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler is at one-over par, birdieing the par-five 16th to finish nine holes for the third round.

Defending champion Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson managed to shoot bogey-free rounds on Saturday at The Players Championship, despite heavy winds.

The duo became the 36-hole clubhouse leaders at three under, but Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge remained at the top of the leaderboard.

Fleetwood only played three holes of his second round on Saturday while Hoge did not even start his before bad light suspended the day's action again.

Stormy weather in the Florida region in the past few days lead to many competitors only finishing their openings rounds on Saturday.

Further weather disruption meant play did not start until midday local time, with 47 players finally completing their opening rounds in the first two hours.

Fleetwood remained at six over par after recording a birdie and a bogey in his three holes, level with Hoge and one shot ahead of Joaquin Niemann, Keith Mitchell and Anirban Lahiri, all tied for third at five under.

Thomas, who won last year's event, carded a three-under 69 to move up to joint-15th place after an even par 72 in his first round, while Watson played himself back into contention with the best second-round score so far of 68 to match Thomas overall on three under.

Dustin Johnson shot 73 in his second round to move to two under, tied for 23rd, while last year's runner-up Lee Westwood will miss the cut after a dismal round of 80 saw him nine over after two rounds.

Brooks Koepka had an even worse day, carding 81 to also sit at nine over, while Rory McIlroy was able to finally complete his first round for 73, before going back out and hitting the same score again, including a double-bogey at the seventh, to leave himself two over.

The par-three 17th was proving particularly tricky in the high winds, with 29 balls finding the water on Saturday, while just four had suffered the same fate in the previous two days. McIlroy said afterwards: "Basically, the green's a big massive dartboard, and you're like, just hit it anywhere on there."

Weather permitting, play is due to resume at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday at 8:15am local time.

The Players Championship could drag into Tuesday due to bad weather at TPC Sawgrass, tournament chief referee Gary Young has said.

Five hours of play was lost on day one on Thursday and the 49th edition of the competition in Florida was further disrupted on Friday.

Play was initially suspended at 11:15 local time before round one could be completed, with confirmation following that it would not resume until at least 11:00 on Saturday.

A Monday finish now seems a likely outcome, though the event may yet stretch into a sixth day. 

"The potential is there. The potential, but let's hope not," Young said at a news conference.

"I think everything that we're looking at, we feel very confident that we can finish this tournament by Monday."

More thunderstorms, rain and strong wind is forecast for Saturday, forcing tournament officials to put contingency plans in place.

"We're going to make some adjustments to prepare for that overnight," Young added.

"The superintendent and his crew are going to need proper time to pick up debris, get the golf course back in condition. So there's a lot of variables involved. 

"I'm talking a little bit about scenarios down the road, but I want to be careful about too many expectations.

"It is highly, highly unusual to have this [weather] pattern for this prolonged period at this time of the year, looking back at the historical data on it. It's just bad luck."

Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge lead at six under par after finishing their rounds as scheduled on Thursday.

Brice Garnett also reached six under with five holes to complete once play resumes.

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson are among those yet to complete their first rounds.

Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge shared the lead at the end of Thursday at The Players Championship, but the pair had not yet seen all of their challengers in action.

Dismal weather in Florida pushed back the start to the opening round and then further delays followed, with heavy rainfall and storms in the area hampering the tournament.

Fleetwood and Hoge were the players best able to negotiate the tricky conditions, although others were yet to start at the close of play.

Big names including Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson were still early in their rounds when play was suspended due to darkness.

Fleetwood, who missed the cut last year after top-10 finishes at The Players in 2018 and 2019, started a little slowly on the back nine but found his rhythm at the turn.

Seven birdies and a bogey saw the Englishman card a six-under 66, which was matched by Hoge – who also started on the back nine – after his eagle at the par-five second.

"For sure, that was the most I could have got out of the round," Fleetwood said. "So, days like that are very, very pleasing."

It could still have been a three-way tie at the top, with Saudi International champion Harold Varner III denied at least a share of the lead by a late-round collapse.

After seven birdies through 16 holes, including five on the back nine, Varner became the first player to find the water at the 17th and signed for a triple-bogey.

That was followed by a bogey at the last that left him three adrift of Fleetwood and Hoge.

"That's what you get a lot out here," Varner said. "Either you get it done or you don't."

Hudson Swafford carded an eight-under 64 to charge to his third career PGA triumph winning the American Express by two shots from Tom Hoge at La Quinta on Sunday.

The 34-year-old American enjoyed a remarkable final day after bogeying the first hole, with nine birdies and an eagle on the 16th to finish victorious at 23-under.

Entering the 16th hole, Swafford was level with Francesco Molinari and Brian Harman at 20-under but a clutch second shot set up eagle, before a birdie on the 17th and making par on the 18th to close out the win.

Swafford's previous two PGA titles came in 2020 and 2017, the latter being at the same event. He had five birdies and an eagle on his back nine along with two bogeys, edging out Hoge who carded a four-under 68 on the final day to finish 21-under.

Harman, Lanto Griffin and overnight joint leader Lee Hodges were equal at 20-under, with the latter struggling with a two-under-par 70 on Sunday.

Fellow day three joint leader Paul Barjon slipped down the leaderboard with a one-over-par 73 to finish 17-under.

Reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Patrick Cantlay was unable to make a final day move, carding a four-under 68 to end up 18-under, behind Will Zalatoris, Denny McCarthy and Molinari (all 19-under).